What to Know
- The Flower Fields at Carlsbad Ranch has a Sweet Pea Maze, included with admission to the attraction
- The destination, which is famous for its Giant Tecolote Ranunculus, is open through May 8, 2022
- You can pick sweet peas at Underwood Family Farms in Moorpark or view them, later in the spring, around Lompoc
What does a sweet pea smell like?
We'll guess that many people might answer such a question with "a sweet pea smells like a sweet pea," and anyone querying on the topic would need to be satisfied with the somewhat opaque but totally accurate answer.
The frilly-of-petal, saturated-of-hue blossom is sometimes described as a quirky combo of several other well-known flowers, olfactory-wise. "Orange blossom" seems to be mentioned frequently, and other fruitful favorites, too.
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But ultimately? The sweet pea's sublime scent is totally itself, in the end: perfumy, light, bright, and layered.
If you're keen to sniff out the far fuller story behind those four words, you'll have a number of opportunities in the months ahead, thanks to the fact that the sweetest and pea-ist season is now turning its frilly face to the Southern California sun.
Where to go, though, to find sweet pea-themed pursuits?
One of the majors can be found in Carlsbad, at The Flower Fields, which are synonymous with the Giant Tecolote Ranunculus, a brilliant, thickly petaled blossom that appears several million times over around the vast outdoor space.
But wait: There's also a Sweet Pea Maze on the property, giving visitors a different and delightful route to connecting with a floral favorite. The maze, like several activities around The Flower Fields, is included with your admission.
If you're around Moorpark, and eager for some spectacular sweet-pea-a-tude, make for Underwood Family Farms, which just announced that sweet peas are ready to be picked.
They're 10 cents a stem, and you'll need to check out some gardening clippers before heading to the field. The details on the pick-your-own favorite? Find them here, as well as guidelines for taking these petal-pretty superstars home.
And there shall be more sweet pea prettiness still to come, when the cultivated flower fields around Lompoc begin to burst with color and fragrance, usually around April or May.
Lovely sweet pea flowers can often be viewed from the road, and there are ways to tour the petal-packed area, all to soak up some of the splendid springtime sights.
